Tag Archives: sweet potatoes

First Secret Recipe Club post of 2015!!!! About a month ago, there was a request for someone to take over for a blogger in Group D that was no longer able to participate. While it turns out she was partnered with me for the cookie exchange, I was able to adopt her “normal” blog: Life on Food. I quickly identified three recipes that looked fantastic: Cream of Broccoli Soup, Skillet Lasagna, and Red Curry Soup. In the end, the curry won out as it was so different than anything else I had tried out and with all the winter weather we’ve been having I needed something on the spicy side. While Emily’s version features beef, I simply doubled all the other ingredients and used a thicker rice noodle.

Emily was right on in saying that this is “a hot meal that warms you from the inside out” – and I’ve already made it again! The trick with the noodles is to add them at the very last moment in order to keep them from soaking up all the broth. However the broth is one that can’t be wasted so nothing really wrong with that happening. Needless to say this was a fantastic dish and I can’t wait to pick up some more curry and make another batch. The only hard part of this recipe was finding a curry paste that was free of shrimp – but in end was able to find some at Whole Foods.

Hello! Welcome to my May installment of the Secret Recipe Club! This month I was sent over to BCmom’s kitchen which is packed with simple and delicious recipes to get you cooking! I love that her blog focuses on standard pantry staples, don’t get me wrong I <3 Wegmans but I can only spend so much time shopping – I want to cook! After much debate (yummy, spinach!), and schedule checking (cuz surgeries requiring bedrest are fun), I decided to go with her Sweet Potato Fries. I’ll be honest, the little kid in me just wanted to shake the fries up all shake n’bake style (do they still sell that???) and it was totally everything I thought it would be. I added a few more seasonings since my herbs are starting to explode, and just added them to the bag.

These fries were fantastic! The clean up was a breeze and the fact that these were baked, not fried, means they are a nice healthy(ish) alternative to the standard bbq/grill side. I also have plans to vegetarianize her zucchini hamburger pie – something involving beans I think as I love the idea of baking all that veggie goodness in a nice flaky crust. Before I sign off just a quick Happy Birthday to my awesome SiL and my incredible BFF who both happen to be Cinco De Mayo babies! Now, go check out the rest of the recipes from the awesome bloggers of The Secret Recipe Club

Prior to this week’s Australian challenge on /52weeksofcooking my knowledge of Australian food was limited to that I seen on TV and that which is shown on the awesome Australian show known as Dance Academy (season 3 finally on Netflix streaming!!!!!). So essentially this left me with The Outback (not happening) and salad (rather boring). Luckily there is this thing called the internet, and with that Google, which allowed me to find all sorts of delicious treats. In that search I found an unusual number of links talking about beets and burgers – which I didn’t really understand. Granted this could be because I’m only starting to tolerate beets but still, beets on a burger??? However I was intrigued and so I set off to figure out a way to do a vegetarian burger – Australian style.

Rinse the lentils then place in a small sauce pan along with the vegetable stock. Bring to a quick boil, then cover and allow to simmer over low heat for 25 minutes. Allow to slightly cool then mix in the sweet potato mash, along with the garlic cloves and beet leaves.

Form the patties and then lightly cover in the panko bread crumbs. Place on a plate, cover in saran wrap, and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile mix up the chili mayo by adding the siracha to the mayo (or veganaise), then place back in the fridge until ready.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, or griddle, over medium heat. Gently add the patties and cook for 5 minutes on each time, adding the beets to the skillet after flipping. Cook the burgers until they are slightly brown on each side - at which point the beets should be roasted.

For an even more authentic burger experience add some roasted pineapple and a fried egg – which was (and is) a bit too much for me. However I have to say that the spicy sauce went fantastic with the sweetness of the potatoes and the tart earthiness of the beets. Lots of contrasts in this dish but it all came together to make a fantastic meal. I served the burger with some spicy carrots – which will eventually show up on the blog. I had a fantastic time with this, so another success thanks to /52weeksofcooking.

There are few things as challenging as a food blogger as having to cook a cuisine for a challenge that you have no familiarity with. While I’m familiar with Jamaica, the bits I know are from books and movies – which is something I need to correct. In looking for recipes I noted a fondness for peanuts and pork, two things that aren’t exactly welcome in my house. However I kept looking and googling for commoningredients, and with that decided to take the base of a few Jerk Curry recipes I found and make them vegetarian friendly. I also decided to make my own jerk seasoning, using this recipe I found on AllRecipes.com, which was easy to make and mostly required standard pantry spices.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the jerk seasoning and fry for a minute, stirring to prevent burning. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook for an additional 7 minutes, garlic should start to turn golden. Add the white wine vinegar and stir well.

Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, allowing the potato to slight crisp on the outside before adding the peppers and tomato.

Meanwhile prepare the wild rice per box instructions. Once finished fluff and set aside.

Add the pineapple, along with the reserved juice, and the black beans. Stir everything well then add the cooked rice, stir again and then cook until beans are warm.

This dish was a HUGE hit – can’t begin to explain how much my husband enjoyed it! The combination of sweet and spicy was perfection, and the rice gave just the right amount of texture to the dish. It might have a rather long ingredient list but it was totally worth it, another great find thanks to /52weeksofcooking.

One of the best parts of traveling, in my opinion, if is trying new and exciting and (hopefully) delicious dishes! One of the best parts of getting home (outside of seeing hubby and puppies) is getting in to the kitchen and attempting to recreate some of those dishes. After my UK and Ireland adventures I knew that I had to recreate the incredible dish I had in Ireland at Cornucopia – even though I had no idea how on earth to do that. I knew the ingredients (beets, potatoes, spinach, cheese, and phyllo) but outside of that I had no idea what needed to be done. Since beets and I are just getting used to each other I decided to grate them, figuring the smaller amounts might blend better with the other vegetables as well as reasoning that round discs might tempt me to just remove them. The other thing to figure out was the phyllo dough on top but some quick Googling proved that it could be done. Once I had finished with the research and planning it was time to head to the kitchen, with some pasta and pesto on hand just in case it didn’t work out.

Heat a large pot of water over high heat and add the butter potatoes, bring to a boil then add a dash of salt and cook for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain, rise with cold water, and then return to the pan. Add the butter and pepper and mix well - set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the cayenne pepper and garlic and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add the sweet potatoes and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until slightly brown. Set aside

Preheat oven to 425 and lightly grease a large casserole dish.

Place 1/3 of the grated beets on the bottom of the casserole dish, then add a layer of the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, and ricotta. Continue layering ending with the ricotta cheese. Top with the phyllo dough, making sure that the dough is at least 2 sheets thick. Brush on the melted butter. Bake for 40 minutes or until phyllo is brown around the edges. Allow to sit for 5 minutes then serve and enjoy!

There is something to be said about a pink dish – it just goes well with everything! While I served this as a simple vegetarian main it would also be a great side dish for company as it comes together quickly and looks rather impressive coming out of the oven. Still not sure about other versions of beets but after the success of this dish I’m willing to give them a try again, we’ll see how that goes!

I’m also sending this treat over to Ren‘s fabulous Simple and in Season since it highlights two vegetables that are popping up in local gardens: spinach and beets! I didn’t grow either of this year due to my trip but my summer veggies are starting to take off so I see lots of peppers, eggplants, carrots, and tomatoes in my near future!